Research Interests

We are generally interested in neuronal trafficking - how things move around in neurons. There are two overall focus areas:

1. Cell Biology of Neuronal trafficking/transport: Due to their complex geometry and finite sites of bulk protein synthesis (perikarya), neurons have evolved elaborate transport and trafficking machinery to deliver proteins into axons and dendrites. How are somatically-synthesized proteins delivered to their appropriate sites, and then retained there (for example at the synaptic terminal)? Knowledge into the biology of this process is critical to our understanding of neuronal form and function.

2. Cell Biology of Neurodegeneration: There is general consensus that that amyloid-beta and tau are key proteins involved in Alzheimer's disease, and that alpha-synuclein is intimately involved in Parkinson's disease (whether they are pathogenic or not). Yet, a major gap in our understanding relates to the precise pathways by which these proteins induce neuronal dysfunction - particularly initiating mechanisms, and how/where the various pathologic proteins operate in a given pathologic cascade. We believe that these questions can be answered by high-fidelity cellular models that accurately capture key pathologic features of these diseases - for example synaptic dysfunction. Below is a generic description of some of the current projects.